Coal receiving and storing plant.



c. S. WILLIAMSON. COAL RECEIVING AND STORING PLANT.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 6, l9l6.

Patnted Apr. 22

CHARLES S. WILLIAMSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COAL RECEIVING AND STORING PLANT.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 22, 191%}.

Application filed October 6, 1916. Serial No. 124,046.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, CHARLES S. WVILLIAM- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coal Receiving and Storing Plants, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to coal handling plants, and particularly to a coal handling plant adapted to efiiciently and speedily concentrate at a single point coal taken either from ships or from railroad tracks, and from that point distribute it into the consuming units of a plant.

It is an object of the invention to provide simple and eflicient means for speedily transferring coal from ships, storage space or railroad tracks to a single receiving point and thence to the consuming units of a plant.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description to follow proceeds.

In the drawings Figure l is a plan view of my unloading system;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view indicating the relative arrangement of the cable system to the subjacent distributing system;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view indicating the relative arrangement of the car dumper with the cable system.

1 represents a dock to which ships to be unloaded are adapted to be tied, as indicated by 2. The dock is provided with storage space 3, adapted to receive piles of coal, and with one orv more unloading bridges, indicated generally by 4, the construction of which is well-known in the art, and which are adapted by means of clam unloading devices, or their equivalent, to unload coal or the like from the holds of ships tied up to the dock. The unloading devices 4 are adapted to be moved longitudinally along the dock on tracks 5, indicated in the drawings.

Adjacent the land end of the dock is a railroad track 7. Upon the railroad track 7 is a car dumper 8 adapted to transfer coal from the railroad cars passing along track 7 into an auxiliary hopper 9. A cable road 10 in the form of a closed loop entirely encircles the outer periphery of the dock and passes under the hopper 9 associated with the car dumper 8. The cable road 10 is equipped with a plurality of cable cars or trains of cable cars 11, which are adapted to be continuously operated in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1 so as to carry coal or the like from the unloading bridges at, which deposit coal directly into the cable cars, or to receive coal from the auxiliary hopper 9 associated with the car dumper 8. A concentrating receiving hopper 12 is provided below the cable road as indicated so that the cable cars having been loaded either from the ship unloading devices or from the hopper 9, all successively deposit their contents into the concentrating hopper 12, below which is located the track loop 13 of an auxiliary system comprising tracks and cars thereon or conveyers adapted to feed indi vidual consuming units 15.

In accordance with the arrangement thus described, coal may be delivered to the plant either over the railroad or by ship, and may be stored in the dock space 3, and this coal is immediately efliciently and easily concentrated from ships, storage or railroad tracks, in the common receiving hoppers 12, whence it may be distributed with the minimum of efi'ort into the consuming units 15.

The arrangement of the car dumper 8 with respect to the auxiliary hopper 9, the railroad track 7 and the cable road 10 is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 3, while the arrangement of the cable road 10 with respect to the concentrating hopper 12 is indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 2.

Having now described my invention, I claim 1. A coal handling plant comprising a dock, a cable road thereon, unloading devices movable along said dock and constructed to take coal or the like from boats and to selectively feed it to said cable road and to a storage space on said dock for later transference to said cable road, a railroad track adjacent said cable system, a car dumper for dumping coal or the like from said track to said cable road, a receiving hopper to receive and concentrate the entire load from said cable system, and means for conveying the contents of the receiving hopper to consuming units.

2. A coal handling plant comprising a dock, a cable road thereon, comprising a closed loop passing along the unloading sides of said dock, unloading devices movable along said dock and constructed to take coal or the like from boats and to selectively feed it to said cable road and to a storage space on said dock for later transference to said cable road a railroad track adjacent said cable system, a car dumper for dumping coal or the like from said track to said cable road, a receiving hopper to receive and concentrate the entire load from said cable system, and means for conveying the contents of the receiving hopper to consuming units.

3. In combination in a coal handling plant, a dock, an unloading device thereon, a railroad track adjacent said dock and having a car dumper, a concentrating hopper, a cable road on said dock and arranged to selectively receive coal or the like from said dumper and said unloading devices and deposit the same in said concentrating hopper for subsequent removal to a consuming unit. In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification in the presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES S. WILLIAMSON. Witnesses:

SEBASTIAN HIN'roN, G. O. Hmns.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. i 

